Yeah, I've definitely noticed the same thing. I can't tell if it's intentional and it's meant to be related to the fact that Akira is changing, or if it's just an unintended consequence of recent events having a few really long event chains and stuff like the timeskip that happened.Just floating this out there to see if anyone has an opinion on this, and I may be imagining it but to me it feels like the resets are happening more frequently. Like wasn't it only 3 or 4 updates since the last one ended.
See I don't think Niki would let him stay broken, or at least I think she would actively try to help him improve (even if she'd accept him if he ultimately stayed broken). Remember that she chose to expose him to things she knew would hurt him because she thought it would ultimately help him, she's arguably done more to help Akira progress than any other character at this point.I like Niki, but I feel like she'd let Akira stay broken, similar to how Ami takes care of him. I think Imani is a better choice. He seems to have grown attached to her quicker then most and I feel like she'd attempt to help him get better. I don't think Niki would help him simply because she wouldn't see it as anything that needs to be fixed, just that he'd need some extra care.
As for Imani, I don't think she'd be a bad choice for Akira to ultimately end up with, but I also don't feel like we've had nearly enough interaction between the two of them for it to make more sense than Niki right now. Sure they have chemistry, but she's still really just the new girl we know almost nothing about who has actively avoided actually getting close to Akira in any kind of intimate way, even if we have clear indications that she does think of him in that way.